THE MORE YOU HAVE, THE MORE YOU GET

The Internet plays less of a role in lifelong learning for those with lower levels of education and income. A new report on lifelong learning and technology from The Pew Research Center has found that Internet access plays a key role in personal learning. Following are some key findings:

● 52% of personal learners used the Internet for learning, but there was a 15 percentage-point gap on either end of the education and income spectrums.

● 58% of personal learners with college degrees used the Internet for personal learning in the past 12 months, compared to 43% with high-school diplomas or less.

● 60% of personal learners in households earning more than $75,000 used the Internet for personal learning, compared with 44% living in households earning less than $30,000.

Those who are better educated get more benefits from learning:

● 72% of personal learners with college degrees say their extra learning expanded their professional network, compared with 50% of personal learners with high-school diplomas or less.

The general public has little awareness of some key digital learning platforms: